Live as a Man. Die as a Man. Become a Man. (The Way of the Modern Day Samurai) Paperback – May 28, 2014

As a huge fan of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast I heard about this book from there. I bought it before the podcast was even over. Enson comes across as a man with honor and this book is full of interesting stories regarding his life and fighting career. I was entertained the whole read through. The reason I took off a star is because like most people I was distracted by the constant grammatical errors. I am given the impression that there was no proofreading here, and it took away from the story just a bit. But even errors aside they didn't take away much from this book. The genuine and honest way that Enson comes across is refreshing. You get the vibe he is telling it the way it was, and there is no exaggeration. From his scraps outside the ring, his relationships, and his heartbreaking message to his son, this book is a great 360 degree view into the life of a man obsessed with mixed martial arts. He lives and breathes it, even living out of his van while he trained for years. He is a loyal friend and talks frequently about how he would die for his friends and family, and you believe him. A great book if you are a fan of MMA or of people who live the samurai spirit in general. Yamatodamashii!

This book is like sitting down with Enson Inoue! I was hooked in from the first chapter and finished the book very quickly.Ensons passion shines through the pages with starkness, as a man, he taught me much in these pages I feel every father should work to instill in a son. Shame is greater than death, live as a man die as a man, honor your family, be straight up, and do not yield to fear. I learned much, thank you Yamatodamashii.

Like others have pointed out, the book is spotted with literally hundreds of errors: spelling, grammar, punctuation. It reads more like a series of casual emails than a book.This is not a book you pick up randomly. If you do, you may be disappointed. A lot like BJ Penn's biography, this is a title best read after having already some knowledge of the writer and his history.It's more so about the persona than a standalone work. So if you start reading without background of the narrator, it can be pretty grating.But having seen some of the authors fights online, read about his participation and impact in early MMA, and listened to a few podcast interviews, this book helped me get more of the details behind a character I already thought was interesting.Having approached it in this way, I found it more enjoyable. I suggest you take this same route if you are thinking about buying this book.

Kindle Version Review.This is a very interesting book, especially for fans of the MMA of the era of Pride FC, Shooto, and Vale Tudo. The stories are entertaining and Inoue's philosophy is admirable. The reason I give the book 3 stars is that it has an absurd amount of grammatical, spelling,structural and continuity errors. Rarely can you finish a page of this book without noticing an obvious mistake. And trust me, I'm not some nit-picky grammar nerd out to throw a wet blanket on people's work. I don't know, maybe it is nit-picky to care about the use of "where" and "wear", "their" and "there", "holy s***" and "holly s***", closing quotes, paragraphs, and run-on sentences.I know that Inoue is a fighter/businessman and not a writer, and that he authored and self-published this book, but it seems as though Inoue wrote the book, ran spellcheck on the word document, then put the book out for sale. No editing for content continuity or errors has been done. I wouldn't go into an MMA fight without professional advice and training; nor would I publish a book without professional advice and editing. (Obviously it's not the same since you don't stand to be physically harmed by publishing an unedited book, but you get the point of the analogy. If you're new to something, get some assistance from someone with experience.)Pros:- Very entertaining stories from Inoue's life.- Very cool to be able to read Inoue's account of his fights, then be able to go and watch most of them on Youtube. (Be sure to watch the Heath Herring fight.)- Great insight into the Pre-UFC overlord MMA world.Cons:- Unbelievable amount of errors. The continuity errors are probably the worst. It's difficult at times to follow the timeline of the stories.If Inoue would pay an editor a couple dollars to give this book a run-through, it would be a 5 star book. Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and would recommend it to any MMA fan with a caveat regarding the errors.

I really enjoyed this book. I am a long time fan of MMA and of Japanese culture. This book had elements of both and were told in a true first person account of the author's life. Mr. Inoue details his fighting history and his rise to the top of the MMA world. It was written in such a way that I could really understand the commitment and dedication of a great fighter. The insider fight information and background stories were fantastic. I also enjoyed the personal stories and life philosophy that Mr. Inoue discusses. I felt it was very powerful and meaningful for me to share this experience within the pages of this book.

If you’re a fan of Japanese culture and/or martial arts, you’ll love this book. It is an easy read as the chapters are formatted for us short-attention span folks. I was fortunate to live in Japan during the period (1993-2000) when Pride Fighting Championships was in it’s peak, so I remember many of the events from the chapters first-hand. Many of the chapters could probably have been expanded into books. Enson shares his journey from Hawaii to Japan, getting over the culture shock (I’m NOT Japanese?), from racquetball to MMA fighting, highs and lows in business and personal relationships along the way along. Throughout the book, you get to understand his philosophy- Yamato Damashii, and how he values life…but more importantly as a Samurai, how he looks at Death.

It is not often that an MMA fighter comes along and really explains the reason that they get into an octagon or ring to fight. Luckily for us Enson Inoue has provided us with an example of this.This book will appeal to both MMA fans and non-MMA fans. Enson provides the MMA fans with a history of his fights and what was happening around the time that they were taking place. What really sets this book apart from others though is the fact that rather than just laying out the events, Enson also includes how his life philosophy of the Yamatodamashii came into being for him.He talks of his formative years in Hawaii and how sports were a dominant force in his life. He then goes on to talk how got into the 'fight business' and how this has had a major impact on his life.His book is written in a clear and easy style and thanks to it's short chapters it keeps a really good and brisk pace. The only niggle I had was there are quite a few typos throughout the book. This can be expected when a writer self-publishes a work. It does however give the book a certain kind of charm, as you know that it is his words and they have not been 'filtered' by a publishing house.You will laugh and maybe even cry when reading this book. Most importantly though, you will come away feeling as if you know how Enson feels and you should gain an even higher level of respect for him.

As exciting and interesting as his fights

A good read, a good perspective, I would love to meet Enson maybe I will get the chance if he does a seminar in England. From racket ball to mma and his outlook on life, it's a good read for a martial artist like myself. There's some good details on this fighters persective of each fight in his career.

I've been a fan of Enson for many years and to hear his story in his own words is great. Check out the blog at www.Raijinfightwear.com for my full review.

Amazing book best autobiography I have ever read